Ready for Life Ministries

Always Be Ready

Helping all to always be spiritually ready for life—for this life and the next.

Ready for Life Ministries Spiritual Exercise #5

Guided Meditation of Encountering God at His Throne

Having gained all the insight needed from Spiritual Exercises #1-4, you will approach God at His Throne.  Please allocate 60 to 90 minutes of space with no distractions to go through this guided gospel meditation. This meditation is broken down into three phases: an Introductory phase to help you relax and paint the scene by the throne of God, a reflection phase where you encounter God at His throne with the preview of your life, and another guided reflection by the throne of God.

Again, you’re highly encouraged be in a state of grace when going through this exercise and to receive spiritual direction after going through it to ensure that you're being guided by the Holy Spirit. If you have questions, comments, or concerns about these exercises, please email Info@ReadyforLifeMinistries.org.

Below is the written guided gospel meditation that you can use to guide others through the same experience.

Introduction

Having gained all the insight needed from the first 4 spiritual exercises, you will approach God at His Throne in an attempt to obtain a roadmap for the rest of your life. Please close your eyes and breathe deeply. [Breathe.] You are here and present. It is just you and God, and He is showing you a possibility through the creative gift of the imagination He gave you. He wants you to use the gift to deepen your relationship with Him. Inhale slowly and deeply [inhale], then exhale slowly [exhale]. Clear your mind of all distractions by noticing the breath of life He has given you. Be filled with gratitude, peace, and joy that He has given you this opportunity to deepen your relationship with Him. [Breathe.]

Heavenly Imagery & Reflection

God is love, and love always contains the element of freedom, giving us the choice to accept it or reject it. Before God formed you in your mother’s womb, He knew you; and you knew Him.

You are in heaven, in pure spiritual form before God formed you in your mother’s womb and gave you the body you currently have. You are laying prostrate before the throne of God, but not for judgment. All you can see right now is the hard floor surface near the base of the throne of God. You are not in fear for you’re not in any kind of trouble. You’ve been summoned for your great mission, and you’re filled with peace and excitement of anticipation. The temple has been silenced, but God the Father breaks the silence with his deep, soft, tender, and loving voice, calling you intimately by your first name. You answer, “Yes, Father,” and you slowly get up on both feet. As you get up, your vision of heaven is as follows.

Several feet (a few meters) before you are some tall steps, 10 to be exact, approximately 20 feet (3 meters) wide at the base, decreasing slightly with each step up. They lead straight to a plateau at the top where there is a high and lofty throne: its appearance is as white crystal, having two secondary seats, one to the left and one to the right, and wheels at its base. Three people in human form are seated on each seat. The steps before you are part of an equilateral 12-sided pyramid-like structure, meaning that each side of the base is 20 feet (3 meters) wide, with God’s throne at the very top of the frustum, the flat plateau area. Angels populate every step at every side, standing or hovering, except for the 2nd step from the bottom. From your vantage point, you can see five sides of the pyramid—the two sides on your left, the side immediately before you, and the two sides on your right. Guardian angels are on the first step up, principalities on the third, powers on the fourth, virtues on the fifth, dominations on the sixth, thrones on the seventh, cherubim on the eighth, and on the ninth are seraphim who have six wings: with two they cover their faces, with two they cover their feet, and they hover with the other two. They are all smiling and looking keenly at you. As you approach the throne of God, going up each step, the angels of each step slightly bow their heads at you, acknowledging you as you pass them. When you get to the fourth step, the seraphim begin to uncover their familiar faces to you, and the frustum area becomes more and more visible to you with each passing step. You see the Father, the Ancient One, on the throne, Jesus seated at His right hand, and the handsome, gloriously smiling Holy Spirit seated at His left. The Queen of Angels, Mary, is standing to Jesus’ right. Next to her is St. Michael followed by St. Gabriel and one other archangel. To the left of the Holy Spirit is St. Raphael and to his left are the other three archangels. Many seraphim are hovering above the throne with their faces and feet covered. You can see the train of the garment of the Father wrap all around the large temple. You also see some familiar faces from this life, but they are only the ones who are younger than you currently because those who are older than you have already been sent to earth. They can be family members and relatives, such as your spouse, younger siblings, cousins, children, and grandchildren. They can be friends and close colleagues. As you continue up the steps, the angels beside you continue to slightly bow and smile at you. When you get to the tenth step, you immediately kneel down and bow face down. A seraph cries out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! Heaven and earth are full with his glory!” At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shakes and the temple is filled with smoke. The three persons of the supreme godhead simultaneously call you gently by name and say, “Come, stand before us.” So, you get up and walk about six feet forward [approximately two meters] until you’re only a few feet away from the Father. All eyes are on you—the Father’s, Jesus’, the Advocate’s, Mary’s, the archangels’, and your loved ones’.

The Father says, “My child, I love you, and I know how much you love Me. I thank you for being so willing and enthusiastic to answer My call and to fulfill My request without knowing exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I have a very important and difficult mission for you. However, I will equip you with all that you need to do My will and to give us all glory. I’m going to have you take on flesh that has desires against My Spirit. I’m going to create for you a weak, mortal vessel in your mother’s womb on earth, and I’m going to send you there. In her womb, you’ll be completely dependent on her. When you’re a child, you’ll need to depend on your earthly guardians to protect you and to provide for you. When you’re grown and self-sufficient, you’ll need to depend on Me. Please know, though, that We will be with you and we will go before you. I am love, and I love you. You are made from love, by love, and for love. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. In fact, you’ve already seen the love from your brother, Jesus, victorious.

Jesus calls you by name, and says, “You’ve seen me succeed in fulfilling my destiny, and I’ll be with you the entire way to help you fulfill yours.” Jesus points to his left and says, “You’ll have your other brother, the Advocate there with the angelic hosts of heaven on your side.”

The Holy Spirit says, “Just as you saw how active I was in the apostles’ time, I will be just as active in your life. Father has given me command of all the hosts of heaven, and I’ll be ordering and instructing all my angels to guide all our people on earth. Behold your companion for life on earth.” As he says this, a guardian angel flies up from the steps behind you, hovers by you, and lands at your right side, kneels and bows face down, is permitted to get up, gets up, turns his head to look at you, smiles, and shields you from behind with his left wing, and focuses on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit continues, “We want to let you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Here, we are outside of space and time. Just as an author who’s writing a book can review and revise his work from beginning to end, we are able to preview your journey on earth before it even begins.”

The Father now commands you, “Turn around, My beloved child, and I’ll clear the smoke.” The smoke in the temple is cleared as you turn around and see the multitudes of angels and saints below in the large temple. Ahead of you appears the projected imagery of your life. You’re shown how you’re forming in your mothers’ womb and how she cared for you during the pregnancy. You’re shown your birth, your childhood, and all the different moments in your life—all the good times and the bad. You’re shown the snares you get caught in and the struggles you have with temptation and habitual sin. You see all the times your guardian angel protects you. You see how much you’re loved and cared for. You see how hard you try to be loyal and faithful to God. Just like watching a movie, you may watch your life unfold in chronological order and then you may go back and review various areas of your life to focus more on the details or to reminisce.

Please take the time now to review your life up until the present moment of this guided meditation. After you get to the present moment, where the projected imagery is of you in this present moment of being guided in meditation, pause the preview and do not proceed any further. You may go back but not forward. Please take as much time as you need [and know that a recording of this exercise is available online so that you can repeat this exercise in your own time.] When you’re done reviewing your past, please open your eyes and make a signal that you’re done with the first reflection. [You may journal and/or pray as you wait, and we will proceed the to the final parts of the guided meditation once everyone is finished. I will notify you when there’s about 5 minutes remaining so that you know to finish up this reflection by getting to the point of previewing the present moment in your vision.] Please proceed with the review of your past. [Breathe.]

Destiny Preview

Please close your eyes again to allow God to guide you through the final part of this journey. Remember to breathe deeply. It is still just you and God, and He wants you to further your journey with Him through the creative gift of the imagination He gave you. [Breathe.]

Now that you are at the point in your vision where see yourself in this place of receiving a guided meditation as the projected imagery in the temple, please turn around with your guardian angel and face the Father at His throne. You kneel down and bow face down. You ask, “Father, please show me more about the rest of my life. Please show me my destiny and how I’m to glorify you in my weak, wounded, and sinful state. How can I live for You all those remaining days of my life on earth?” In a moment, God should grant you your wish of seeing the future that has yet to unfold in the projected imagery behind you. Remember that you’re outside of space and time, and as the Author of Life, God intervenes based on the choices you make. Therefore, the future you have yet to see may have multiple paths, and He may show you the different paths that lead to comparable outcomes, ultimately glorifying Him and bringing you back home.

Soon the Father will tell you to get up and turn around and He will reveal to you all that needs to be revealed. After all that can be revealed has been revealed to you, you will turn around again and face the Father at His throne to have discussions with Him and others afterward.

This is your experience at God’s throne right before your vessel is being formed in your mother’s womb. This is your commissioning ceremony. Those who are closest to you, who will be sent after you, get to be with you before you’re sent off. Again, because this is your experience, some things can happen as wish, such as having saints or more loved ones appearing in this space. Please take all the time you need to talk to anyone you want to by the Throne of God. There’s the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary the Queen of Angels who is crowned with a crown of twelve stars, the archangels, the seraphim, your guardian angel, and those dear to you who are at your commissioning ceremony.

Now, the Father tells you gently to get up and to turn around so He can show you what you need to see. Once again, this is your experience. After you’ve seen all that you need to see, after you have spoken to everyone you want to by the throne of God, and after you said your goodbyes, please open your eyes [and remain still until everyone is finished. I will cue you when there’s about 5 minutes remaining so that you know to finish up the reflection.] Please proceed now with discovering the paths of your destiny.

[. . . There’s about 5 minutes remaining. Please finish up the previewing of your destiny and begin to have the conversations with those by the throne of God. This is where you say your final words and hear any last requests as you say your goodbyes.]

Final Prayer

Father in Heaven, we are filled with joy and gratitude that you’ve given us this opportunity to discover Your will for us, the will we agreed to do before you formed us in our mothers’ wombs, the will that lies deep within our hearts and minds. Let this experience be the first impressions of the roadmap You send to us from heaven to guide us for the rest of our lives. God, we love You and Your holy will, and we’ll stop at nothing until Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! We will embrace the weakness and frailty of these mortal bodies so that Your power can be made perfect in our weakness as we surrender ourselves completely to Your holy will, which is love and mercy. After we have served You well in this life to win back as many of our spiritual brothers and sisters as possible, we look forward to seeing Your face again. Jesus Christ, thank you for showing us the Way of the Cross. Holy Advocate, thank you for commanding your angelic hosts to protect us as we serve You. Holy Queen, thank you for showing us how to be the perfectly humble disciple of Your Son. Holy angels, thank you for your gracious protection. Please continue to allow us to be conducted by you and the Holy Spirit until our very last breath. Please guide us to love God more and more each day and equip us with all the graces we need to fulfill our destiny. All this we pray in through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Source Verses

Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NABRE)

Call of Jeremiah

4 The word of the Lord came to me:
 5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
  before you were born I dedicated you,
  a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Isaiah 6:1-4 (NABRE)

The Sending of Isaiah. 1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. 2 Seraphim[b] were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. 3 One cried out to the other:

“Holy, holy, holy[c] is the Lord of hosts!
  All the earth is filled with his glory!”

4 At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke.[d]

Galatians 5:17 (NABRE)

17 For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NABRE)

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Luke 1:26-28 (NABRE)

Announcement of the Birth of Jesus. 26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:26-28 (NABRE)

The Woman and the Dragon. 1 [a]A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman[b] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 

Here you can find a printer-friendly copy of Ready for Life Ministries Spiritual Exercises #5.

If you find this reflection helpful, you may modify it such that you're an attendee of a commissioning ceremony for an elder loved one of yours.  If you need assistance or have any questions or concerns about it, please email Info@ReadyforLifeMinistries.org.